Social Media and The Ring of Gyges

Social Media – a lack of online morals

Back in the 4th century BC, Plato referred to the legend of the Ring of Gyges ( a ring which, when worn, this would turn the wearer invisible) to wonder whether an otherwise moral person would still be so if he/she knew they couldn’t be identified or caught?

Fast forward a couple of thousand years to the age of the internet…..we are all ring owners now!

The Online Disinhibition Effect

Question – why do so many people ‘troll’ online now? Why is such behaviour tolerated when people would never do/say such things face to face?

A recent Canadian research study (*) surveyed over 1,000 people, comparing their personality profiles to their Internet commentating behaviour.

They were looking for the ‘Dark Tetrad’ of personality traits: narcissim, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism

“Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun … and the Internet is their playground!”

(*) 2014: Buckels, Trapnell, Paulhus

Anonymity = Great Power

That is what the internet offers – anonymity, or to invoke Plato, ‘The Ring of Gyges’.

I think the riposte which sums this up best, and which we would all do well to remember in our online interractions, is a line from the Marvel Comics series:

“With great power comes great responsibility”